St. Louis teen earns title of ‘Wonder Woman’ at girls wrestling tournament

By Russell Kinsaul

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    ST. LOUIS, Missouri (KMOV) — Festus High School senior, Lauren Mills, competed in the Wonder Woman Wrestling Tournament in Columbia, Missouri over the weekend. It’s billed as one of the toughest wrestling tournaments for girls in the Midwest, with over 600 athletes coming from six states.

Mills won in her weight class of 125 pounds. She was awarded a championship belt with her title on the front, “Wonder Woman.”

“It’s kind of an honor to have one of these. So it’s pretty cool,” she said.

Mills is part of a wave of young women who’ve entered the sport of wrestling in recent years, a sport that used to be for boys only. Jarad Sheppard is the wrestling coach at Festus High School

“Missouri especially, is one of the fastest growing girls wrestling states,” said Sheppard.

Twenty-three states have sanctioned girls’ high school wrestling, setting up separate divisions for boys and girls. Missouri sanctioned girls wrestling in 2018 and Illinois in 2021.

Mills has a perfect record this season of 19-0. She’d previously participated in competitive cheerleading and believes her tumbling skills have helped her as a wrestler. She said she was inspired to pursue the sport, in part, because her older sister started wrestling and is currently wrestling at Missouri Baptist University.

Some parents might have apprehension about their daughters competing in wrestling, but not Mills’ parents.

“I love it. I think it’s great. My kid does something that most other girls don’t do. And I think it’s awesome,” said Leah Mills.

Mills said she sometimes hears from people who don’t think girls should wrestle. She said if they only knew how much discipline and commitment to hard work that the sport teaches, they might change their minds.

Mills said she’s set her sights on winning a state title. But hasn’t decided if she’ll continue wrestling in college.

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